


Just dance around it (until we don't)

by Saltedkiss



Series: Saltedkiss' Camelove 2021 Contributions [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Friends to Lovers, Gwaine is an idiot, Idiots in Love, Lancelot saves the day, M/M, Modern Era, Pining Merlin, idiots to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:47:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29318142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saltedkiss/pseuds/Saltedkiss
Summary: Merlin is Gwaine's best friend. His best friend in the whole word. The one person he shares the highs with, the lows, the big moments and the small ones. And the one person he goes to to complain about every single awful date he has...Or: Gwaine is an oblivious idiot, Merlin is a pining idiot, and Lancelot has the braincell (for once)!Written for Camelove 2021 - Day 2: Knights in shining armour
Relationships: Gwaine/Merlin (Merlin)
Series: Saltedkiss' Camelove 2021 Contributions [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2150835
Comments: 22
Kudos: 68
Collections: Camelove 2021





	Just dance around it (until we don't)

Gwaine walked up the stairs, careful to skip the second step so he wouldn’t wake up Merlin’s neighbours. At the top of the stairs, he went left. Even in the dark, his hands immediately found the light switch. He took out his keys and found the key to Merlin’s apartment. When he lifted it up to open the door the display of his Fitbit lit up. 2 am. Shit. Merls was probably already asleep. Unless he wasn’t. 

Gwaine sighed and decided he’d have to wait to share his misery until the next day. Crashing on Merlin’s ridiculously comfortable sofa would be an okay alternative to having his best friend sit with him while he lamented over yet another awful date. 

He turned the key and heard the lock click. Gwaine went inside, careful to pull the door knob up just a little so the door wouldn’t creak the way it usually did. 

“Hey baby,” Gwaine whispered, when Merlin’s cat, Aithusa curled around his legs. The traitorous little minx would surely wake Merlin up by meowing, if Gwaine didn’t hurry and give her some treats. He scooped the cat up in his arms and headed for the kitchen. He didn’t bother turning on the lights. Didn’t have to, since he’d spent every weekend here since Merlin had moved in. Most weekdays, too. As he reached for the treats on the top shelf, the lights went on. 

“Shit, I tried being quiet, I swear,” Gwaine said, the grin on his face at seeing Merlin as bright as the lights that had just been turned on. 

“It’s fine. I figured you’d show up soon enough. I wasn’t asleep yet.” 

Gwaine doubted that was true. The creases in Merlin’s cheek could have only been caused by spending some quality time on his pillow. “Sorry, Merls,” he lied.

“Don’t be.” Merlin moved past Gwaine, scratching Aithusa behind her ears before taking a Tupperware container out of the fridge. Gwaine heard something rambling inside. 

“Oh yes. Comfort food. This is why I love you.”

“So this either means you’ve finally noticed my charm, or tonight’s date was even worse than the last.”

“I swear this was the worst one yet. There’s nothing wrong with having an outdoorsy hobby. But fishing? Really?” Gwaine shuddered as he remembered how his date, Cedric, hadn’t stopped talking about the different types of lures and baits and hooks and... Ugh. Saying the date had been bad was an understatement. 

“Here, this should ease your suffering.” With a smile, Merlin took the lid off of the Tupperware container, revealing a bunch of perfectly cut apple slices. 

“Please tell me you’ve got some chocolate to go with those,” Gwaine said, while reaching for the cupboard behind him where he knew he’d find the chocolate fountain. Merlin winked and grabbed two bars of Belgian chocolate. The kind he knew Gwaine liked, the one with flakes of sea salt. He dangled them over Gwaine’s head. 

“You’re a dream, Merlin, you know this right?”

“Oh, so that’s why you always come over in the middle of the night, then?”

“That and Aithusa would miss her best buddy, isn’t that right?” A soft mewl sounded from Gwaine’s feet. 

They made quick work of the chocolate fondue while Gwaine complained to Merlin about his awful date. Somehow, it didn’t seem quite as bad when talking to Merlin about it. As always, his best friend teased him to no end, but having someone to share his misery with, made it better, somehow. “And then he told me about how he breeds his own worms, Merlin. I swear I’m not making this up. _Worms_!” 

Gwaine dipped his fingers in what was left of the molten chocolate and licked them clean. He felt some of it drip into his beard, and sure enough, Merlin already had a towel at the ready. 

“Oh, I know you’re not making this up, you don’t have the mental capacity to come up with a story this ridiculous. I don’t get it. Where do you keep finding these irresistible studs?”

“It’s called OKCupid, and I’ve told you, you need to make an account.”

“Yeah, no thanks. I see the type of blokes you keep going out with. They’re absolute disasters.”

“You know what they say. Opposites attract, I’m sure you’ll find someone amazing right away.”

This earned him a punch in the shoulder. Gwaine rubbed at it, faking a hurt look, although, to be fair, they both knew he’d deserved it. 

“You’re not making any sense,” Merlin quipped, “Must be getting tired. I know I am. I’ve already put pillows on the sofa for you. Blanket’s there, too.”

Gwaine thanked Merlin and headed to the bathroom, where his toothbrush was right where he’d left it last weekend. He washed up quickly, glad he hadn’t gone home after all, where all he’d find was an empty apartment and dirty dishes. He loved spending time with Merlin and Aithusa. Loved the sound that came from the other room, where he heard Merlin grumble at the cat, who’d once again hogged his pillow. Loved knowing he’d always have a place to go to when he needed one. Yeah, Gwaine thought, when he flung himself down on the sofa he usually spent one or two nights per week on, this right here, was the good life. Having someone to share his misery with. 

Amazing. 

He opened the OKCupid app on his phone and started to scroll for matches. He ticked the “must love cats” box. 

-

** Gwaine ** : _M, I’m gonna have to reschedule movie night Friday_

** Merlin ** : _Look, no promises. I might have to watch Two Towers without you_

** Gwaine ** :  _Noooooo_ 😱 😱 😱

** Merlin ** : _At least tell me you have a good reason_

**Gwaine has sent an image.**

** Merlin ** : _Oh please, that guy’s barely a six. Aragorn looks so much better._

** Gwaine ** : _Heh, and here I was thinking you had a thing for the blond elf?_

** Merlin ** : _Tall dark and moody does it for me. Can’t help it._

** Gwaine ** : _Look, I’m sorry, I’ll make it up to you. How about Saturday? Don’t watch it without me. I liked Fro-Yo!_

** Merlin ** : _Frodo! You're hopeless!_

** Gwaine ** : _Right. Frodo. Wait for me?_ 🥺

** Merlin ** : _No promises_

-

Gwaine called Merlin from his taxi. He took up on the first ring. “Oh, so Barely-A-Six wasn’t all he’d promised to be?” 

“His name’s George. And no.”

Merlin chuckled. “Do tell.”

“Thirty years old and lives with his Mum. His Mum, Merlin. He invited me over for her bloody Sunday roast this weekend. Oh, stop giggling, you dick.”

“And here I was, planning on inviting you to come back to Ealdor with me next month. I’ll just have to tell my Mum you’re no fan of homecooked meals anymore.” 

“No way. Don’t you dare. Hunith’s cooking is to die for. I’ll drive.” 

“Speaking of. Are you in a car? Thought you’d gone out for cocktails?”

“A taxi, actually. Oh and FYI, I gave the driver your address.” Gwaine winked when the driver made eye contact with him through his rear-view mirror. 

“Of course you did.”

“So, are you waiting for me?”

Merlin stayed quiet for a while. When he answered his voice was strained. “What?”

“The movie. You haven’t started yet, have you?”

“Oh,” Merlin said, sounding somewhat distracted. “Oh. No. No, I haven’t.” 

“Yes! Fro-Yo, here I come!”

“I hate you,” Merlin said without missing a beat. 

“No you don’t.”

Gwaine thought he heard Merlin sigh at the other end of the line. 

“No, Gwaine, I really don’t,” he said. “See you in a bit.”

\- 

“Merlin, damn it, pick up your phone,” Gwaine snarled when the call went to voice mail. Again. He looked at his phone as if the damn thing had insulted him. It had, actually. There was no reason for it not to do its damn job, and that was to connect him with Merlin. 

** Gwaine ** : _I called. Again. What the hell is wrong with you?_

It was 11 o’clock. On a Friday. Merlin should have been curled up on his sofa right now, watching some silly fantasy show on Netflix. He should have been home when Gwaine got there. Not... missing. Okay, fine, the flat didn’t look as if someone had broken in, and nothing was gone. TV was still there, Merlin’s laptop still on his desk. Car keys were still on the counter, but Merlin could have taken a cab to wherever-the-hell-he-was. Right? 

Nothing to worry about.

Right? 

** Gwaine ** : _I’ve got a game tomorrow. If we lose, I’m telling the team it’s all your fault. See which one of them will buy you beers next time we go out after you_ _cost us the win_ _._

** Gwaine ** ** :  ** _M, where the hell are you? Are you alright? Did Aithusa eat you? Will I find your remains in your closet if I go check? Thusa begged for food when I came in, but there never was much meat on your bones to begin with._

** Gwaine ** : _Merlin?_

Gwaine pressed the call button. Again.

** Gwaine ** : _I am five seconds away from calling_ _Hunith to see if she’s heard from you._

When his phone finally buzzed, Gwaine couldn’t open Merlin’s message fast enough. When he read it, he gasped. He read the message twice, just to make sure he actually understood what it said.

** Merlin ** : _I’m on a date. I’ll call back later. Unless_ _Aithusa’s on fire. In which case I’ll need a picture and then I’ll pick up._

Gwaine stared at the screen. Merlin. His best friend. His Merlin. Was on a date. 

Right. Gwaine had been bugging the guy to create a dating app profile for ages now. Looked like he’d finally gotten down to it. So, that was good news. Great news, even. Definitely not horrible at all. And if his stomach clenched at the thought of Merlin being too busy to pick up his phone, because he was out with some guy, that didn’t mean anything. Right? 

Except for the fact that it did. 

“Oh fuck,” Gwaine mumbled. Aithusa meowed in agreement. 

Merlin didn’t come home until noon. When he finally heard the man’s key slide into the lock, Gwaine grabbed the first book he could find and opened it. Yeah. Good thinking, pretend you were busy, he thought, giving himself a pat on the back. It was only when Merlin stood before him that he noticed he was holding it upside down. Damn it. 

“You’ve got a match this afternoon. It starts,’ Merlin looked at his watch, “...ten minutes ago.”

“I know that, Merlin, thanks.”

Merlin pulled a face at the uncalled-for venom in Gwaine's voice. “What’s wrong with you?” 

“Me? What’s wrong with me?” Gwaine ignored the small voice in the back of his mind that told him he was being an ass. It wasn’t supposed to go this way. Merlin should have just come home around midnight after a crap date. He shouldn’t have stayed out all night, shouldn’t look this wonderfully sleep-deprived. Gwaine grunted. The words that came tumbling out sounded spiteful. He knew he had no right. It didn’t stop him. “You’re the one who stayed out all night, who didn’t bother to give a heads up. You-” 

“Oh, that’s gold.” Merlin barked out a laugh and took his scarf off. Then his coat. 

“You left Aithusa!”

Merlin laughed. It sounded bitter. “I left my cat for ten hours. That’s all you’ve got? Back off, Gwaine. You’re the one who keeps telling me to go out and meet someone. If anything, you should be happy for me.” 

“I...” Gwaine stared at the book in his hands and turned it right side up, so at least one thing didn’t feel off about this entire situation. 

“You...” Merlin prompted.

“I am. Happy for you.” Gwaine put the book down on the kitchen counter with much more force than necessary. He heard Aithusa hiss behind him. “You’re right. I’ve got to go. See if the team will let me play the second half.”

He didn’t look at Merlin when he walked past him. Didn’t turn back for the key he’d forgotten in Merlin’s flat. Didn’t look at his phone as it buzzed in his pocket. 

-

“Mate, you look like shit,” Percival shouted from his place in front of the goal, when Gwaine approached the football field. “Did you even sleep at all last night?” 

A grunt was the only response Percy got. Gwaine's mood hadn’t improved since he’d left Merlin’s place. Not one bit. He probably shouldn’t have come here right now. Chances of him getting to play and work out some of the frustration, were zero to none, if the heights Coach Gaius’ brows had reached, were anything to go by. Damn it.

Gwaine was right. He didn’t get to play in the end. He simply stood at the side-lines and suffered along with his teammates when goal after goal was made against them. Their team hadn’t lost this badly in ages. Sure, the company’s football league they were in was just for fun, but Gwaine and his friends got pretty competitive about it all. 

He waited for the rest of the Knights to get out of the showers. Their faces portrayed about as much joy as his own, when they finally saw him. “Not like you to cancel like that, man,” Leon said, “Are you okay?” 

At least they weren’t mad at him for being one man short. Gwaine wasn’t sure he could handle someone else yelling at him right now. 

“Yes, I’m good.”

“Liar,” Lance said. “We’re going out for lunch. You can tell us what happened to you, when we get there. You’re buying, by the way.”

Gwaine didn’t argue. He got in the car with his friends and stayed quiet until they got to the burger place they always went to after each match. As soon as they entered, the owner, Mary, shot them all sympathetic glances. “Right, not celebrating today, got it.” 

They got to their usual table, where Elyan slid into the booth after Gwaine did. “Spill,” was all he said. The others kept quiet. Of course, they’d pick this time to gang up on him. 

“I had a fight with Merlin,” was all Gwaine said. “Fucking ridiculous, if you ask me. I went over and got worried when he didn’t come home. Had a bit of a shouting match. Didn’t win that one either.” 

While the others hummed at his explanation, Lancelot stayed awfully quiet. 

“If you’ve got something to say, now’s the time, Lance.” He hadn’t meant to snap at his friend. He really hadn’t. The others quieted down when they noticed the staring competition that had started. 

When Lance finally spoke, he did so with determination, emphasising every single syllable, as if to make sure Gwaine heard it right. “You’re a bleeding idiot, Gwaine.” 

“Excuse me?”

The others shifted in their seats, but none of them disagreed with Lance’s words. 

“Enough with the bullshit. I’ve had it,” Lance continued, “You know you’re my friend, but so is Merlin. And you’ve been stringing him along for years now. Years. Spending holidays together, every big moment, all the small ones. You never go anywhere important without bringing Merlin along. Haven’t properly shagged anyone for months now, either. 

“We get it, you’ve got commitment issues. That’s fine. But don’t drag him down with you. He’s finally done pining, finally goes on a date, and you manage to ruin that for him, too.”

“What the hell would you know about it?” Gwaine threw his hands up in frustration, pushing over a beer in the process. He stared at the golden liquid as it spread over the table and started to trickle down onto the already sticky floor.

“Where do you think he crashed last night?”

Gwaine buried his head in his hands, elbows on the table. He felt his sleeve get soaked. Right. The beer he’d pushed over. Damn it. 

“You don’t deserve my advice,” Lance said, “but I’m giving it to you anyways. Whether you take it or not is up to you. But you’d better listen. Either stop getting Merlin’s hopes up only to mess him up all over again and be the friend you say you are. Or get your shit together and ask him out now, before he finds someone who isn’t too afraid to see what they’ve got.”

“I didn’t... I didn’t know. I didn’t know until he wasn’t there, last night. Until he-” Gwaine felt bile rise in his throat. “Wait, he didn’t spend the night with... whoever that was?”

“No. He arrived at our place around midnight. Said things didn’t work out.”

Gwaine looked up at Lance and ignored the others’ stares. “Why? Why didn’t he just come home?” 

“Beats me. Figured he didn’t want to face you just yet.”

Gwaine buried his head in his hands again, and moaned. 

Elyan placed a hand on Gwaine's shoulder and shook it gently. “I think I know of a way to fix this.” 

-

** Gwaine ** ** : ** _I’m picking you up in twenty minutes._

** Merlin:  ** _You’re not. You haven’t returned my calls all day. I’m not going anywhere with you._

** Merlin ** : _Besides, I’ve got plans. Hanging out with Lance tonight._

** Gwaine ** ** :  ** _You’re not. He’s on a date with Gwen._

** Merlin ** : _What’s going on?_

** Lance ** : _You can yell at me later._

** Merlin ** : _?????_

** Merlin ** : _?????_

** Gwaine ** : _Twenty minutes. I’ll explain later._

Gwaine knocked on Merlin’s front door for what was probably the first time in years. He straightened his shirt nervously. Was he sweating? Damn, he was. He lifted his arm to smell just how bad it was. Trust Merlin to choose that exact moment to open the door. He stood in the door opening, staring at Gwaine for a very long time. Gwaine lowered his arm and looked back at Merlin. 

“You’re wearing a shirt,” Merlin said. 

“I am.”

“You’ve brought flowers.”

“I have.” Gwaine held them out for Merlin to take. He didn’t.

“You made Lance pretend he was coming over, so I’d be here.”

“I did.”

“What’s going on?” Merlin bit his lip like he always did whenever he got nervous.

“I’m going to... I’d like to...” Gwaine swallowed, come on, this was Merlin for crying out loud, there was no reason for this to be hard. None. “ _Gooutwithme_.” 

“I’m sorry?”

He took a breath. Yup, definitely sweating now. “Merlin, I’d like to take you out. On a date. With me. If that’s okay.”

Merlin blinked. He simply stood there, staring at Gwaine. “Why?”

“Because you’re amazing.” See, now that wasn’t hard. Okay, so the truth did come out in full sentences. Good to know. “You’re my best friend. You’re the person I want to come home to. You’re the person I _come_ home to. The one I share everything with, the good, the bad, all of it. You cooked me soup that one time I got sick, and hid a rotten fish under my pillow two weeks later that  _made me_ _sick_ when I was hungover. I’ve been an idiot for not seeing it. But I do now. I... I just hope I’m not, y’know... Too late.” 

“You want to date me?”

“I want to date you.”

Merlin’s eyes softened, and slowly the rest of his face followed. His mouth split open in a grin so bright, Gwaine felt as if the sun had just dropped down from the heavens and landed in Merlin’s apartment building. 

“I think I’d like that,” Merlin said as he took the flowers Gwaine had brought for him, “I think I’d like that very much.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for being here & for taking your time to read my work! It means so much to me that you do. 
> 
> Kristen, thanks for suffering through my comma-nightmares. This fic wouldn't be what it is without you. <3


End file.
